What are the top 10 hashtag research tools? Do you need help growing your Instagram followers? Is finding the right hashtags for your account proving to be a very stressful and tedious process? The truth is, you are not alone and this is genuinely a challenge especially if you’re trying to do it on Instagram itself.
Good thing there are some very efficient tools available out there to make life easier in conducting hashtag research. In this post, we are going to discuss the top 10 hashtag research tools in 2022 to give your Instagram account a much-needed boost. Some of them are paid but some of them could be utilized for free. Let’s dive in.
So, are hashtags still useful in 2025? Definitely. That’s the reason why you need the right tools to up your hashtag game, and increase your reach, impressions, and Instagram followers by putting in the right hashtags on your content.
We will go through the top 10 hashtag research tools one by one. And by the end of this post, you can decide what is the best hashtag research tool for Instagram suits you best.
Key Takeaways
Hashtags are crucial for Instagram growth
In 2025, using the right hashtags can boost your reach, engagement, and followers. Finding the best tags for your content is essential for staying competitive.Top Tools for Hashtag Research
Tools like Flick, Keywords Everywhere, and Hashtastic help streamline the hashtag process, offering valuable insights like hashtag performance, trends, and grouping strategies.Free and Paid Options
There are both free and paid tools available. Free tools like All Hashtag and Hashtag Inspector Pro are great for beginners, while Flick offers more advanced features for serious users.Customizable and Targeted
Many tools allow you to tailor your hashtag strategy based on keywords, trends, and analytics, ensuring that your content is always reaching the right audience.Adapt and Evolve
Instagram’s algorithm and trends are always changing, so it’s essential to stay updated with the latest tools and strategies for optimal growth.
Flick

How do you check the effectiveness of a hashtag? Take Flick as an example. This is one of the reasons why it is considered one of the primary hashtag research tools. It is very intuitive and is focused on putting a relevant group of tags together for each of your content pieces. Thus, making your job significantly easier.
Which is the best hashtag generator? One that does not only find the right tags for each of your content, but also groups them to give you the best chance of getting momentum, ranking more, and getting more impressions and reach. Furthermore, they also have the hashtag audit tool to make sure you’re not wasting time by using tags that are least likely to bring you success. It also helps prevent you from using flagged or banned hashtags because it tells you if the ones you selected are such.
As one of the top 10 hashtag research tools, Flick tells you which specific hashtags brought you what amount of success and where you did rank on this tag, thus giving you a very good idea of how each of your tags is doing. It also has a super detailed analytics week that is focused on your growth to help improve your strategy. Everything is laid out and presented so you constantly know how you’re doing as well as all the opportunities there are for improvement. This is a paid service but you can take advantage of their free trial and use this time to decide whether you wish to continue or not.
Keywords Everywhere

Another one of our top 10 hashtag research tools, Keywords Everywhere is a hashtag research tool free of charge. It’s a chrome plugin that can be accessed via the chrome browser. The hashtag research tool for Instagram can be used by downloading the chrome plugin and going to Instagram on your chrome browser. Afterwhich you will notice a little hashtag icon beside your profile photo on your browser. Click that little hashtag on the top right of your screen to open the Keywords Everywhere tool
Now you can start researching hashtags and expect to be given loads of valuable information to come up with better decisions. Just type a generic keyword associated with your piece of content and the tool will then source tons of various hashtags with its primary keyword. Plenty of different data will also be given so you can decide which hashtags to include or not include, like if it’s trending or not, etc. All this info can be saved or printed for easy storage and access.
You can also choose to filter your searches based on specific stats on Instagram. This gives you plenty of wiggle room to decide what to do. Again, this tool is free as long as you are only looking for Instagram-specific info. But once you start searching for anything associated with Google you need to have tokens or credits. This tool is perfect for someone who does not have the budget yet but still wants to find relevant hashtags and acquire helpful info for their Instagram posts.
Hashtastic

This is another powerful entry in our top 10 hashtag research tools list, which helps users find the right hashtags for their accounts. Hashtastic provides you with plenty of tools and resources to make finding tags easier. However, it does not have the same amount of features that Flick has. Nevertheless, it still gives you compelling choices to consider.
Hastashtic is equipped with various hashtag search engines to suit your needs at any given time. It also has an account scanner tool that keeps track of your account’s performance as well as your competitor’s accounts. This is how you will get a good idea of how well your account is stacking up. It also gives you opportunities to switch or improve strategies. Speaking of strategies, making your life easier is one of them by using a social media management tool. Learn more about this in our Mentionlytics review.
Their media finder lets you find trending content from the past 24-48 hours. So you will know exactly which content is trending or going viral in your niche so you can decide if you want to ride on the bandwagon at any time. Their hashtag performance analytics and campaigns also allow you to monitor your account’s progress over time. It comes at a slightly lower price point than Flick, but if you can do without all the bells and whistles and just wish to go with more straightforward and practical resources, then Hashtastic may be for you.
All Hashtag

Another solution in our list of the top 10 hashtag research tools that you can include on your list of the best free hashtag research tools is All Hashtag. This is an open-source method that allows users to generate hashtags for their posts automatically. Just enter a specific keyword related to your post and leave it to this tool to do all the work and it will provide you with similar hashtags to your entered keyword. It also has other tools like hashtag creator, hashtag analytics, hashtag counter, and top hashtags. Again, all these services are available for free.
Instavast Hashtag Generator

There is a good reason why this is included in our top 10 hashtag research tools 2022. Instavast Hashtag Generator will help you generate the latest and trending hashtags to give your posts the boost they need. It is based on your image, URL, and keyword you input. Apart from its hashtag generator, it also has other awesome free tools such as Banned Hashtags, Instagram Downloader, Local Proxy App, and Username to ID Converter.
The app also lets users set automatic responses to direct messages via its Autodirect Messages service. So if you want to have advanced targeting options, auto-like comments and follows, built-in filtering modules, and real-time reports and analytics all for free, then Instavast is the perfect tool for you.
Photerloo

This free online keyword generator gives you the latest and trending hashtags to help land your Instagram posts on top of the search results. This is done by uploading a photo you want to generate hashtags for. From there, you can choose from various criteria for generating your hashtags. Like the Maximum Number of Photo Keywords, or Instagram Popularity. So if you want a user-friendly interface tool for choosing popularity and hashtags with no price tag on it, then Photerloo is definitely for you.
Tagwag

Just because the name sounds weird doesn’t mean it can’t get into our list of the top 10 hashtag research tools. This app has over 20 categories you can choose from, each of which has five more subcategories of various hashtags. The great thing about this is that users can easily copy and share tags with a click. This makes the entire process simple and seamless. You can also just add a photo of your choice to post on Instagram and Tagwag will generate the hashtags too. The same thing goes for generating an entire caption.
Tagify

Having a list of hashtags always come in handy, but knowing how they work and their ranking is a whole different story. That’s how Tagify comes into the picture. This is an AI-based hashtag generator that will generate specific hashtags based on your input. It also shows the users the hashtags that come along with the number of posts.
You also have the option to change the order in which they are shown. Their hashtag research tool is well-optimized and equipped with a detailed analysis of the hashtags. Furthermore, it provides you with the option of trending hashtag categories and the capability of creating unlimited hashtag collections. And the best part as always is that it is free.
Hashtag Inspector Pro

Next on our free list of the top 10 hashtag research tools is Hashtag Inspector Pro. This app is great, especially for those who are still starting their Instagram journey and wants to get their feet wet. It’s a super easy-to-use app. All you need to do is search for the hashtag and get over 50 plus relevant options in return that you can choose from. To select, tap on each tag individually, or use Smart Select to select them in bulk.
Plus 5? Plus 10? Perhaps plus 50. When you’re done simply add the hashtags to your favorite section. Do this by clicking on the star button. Users can also check the history of all the tags they have searched for easy recall and wish to repeat them in the future.
inTags

Another free and reliable hashtag-generating tool on our list of the top 10 hashtag research tools is In Tags. Users have over 30 categories to choose from, plus you can even make specific cards with hashtags for specific photos and then save them afterward for later use. There are also loads of themes to choose from to suit your taste or mood. From fun and quirky, to dark and gloomy, it’s totally up to you. Within tags just search and generate hashtags using filters. These filters have sliders that can generate hashtags, those that are always used to rarely used, or used per liking. So if you like your Instagram moments to be fun, simple, and uncomplicated, it’s time to give In Tags a try.
FAQ
- What is the best hashtag tool for Instagram?
Flick is one of the top tools for hashtag research due to its powerful features, including hashtag grouping, performance tracking, and analytics to optimize your strategy. - Are there free tools available for hashtag research?
Yes, tools like Keywords Everywhere, All Hashtag, and Hashtag Inspector Pro offer free features to help you find and analyze relevant hashtags for your Instagram content. - Why are hashtags important for Instagram growth?
Hashtags improve discoverability by categorizing content, allowing it to reach a wider, targeted audience. Proper use of hashtags can increase engagement, visibility, and followers. - How can I track the effectiveness of my hashtags?
Tools like Flick and Hashtastic provide detailed analytics to show how your hashtags are performing, helping you refine your strategy over time. - Do I need to pay for hashtag research tools?
While there are paid options with advanced features like Flick, many free tools (e.g., All Hashtag and Hashtag Inspector Pro) are sufficient for users who are just starting out.
Hashtag Research Tools (What It All Boils Down To)
Knowing about all these hashtag research tools, how do you know which one is best for you? The answer simply boils down to one thing- your priority. Do you see Instagram simply as a fun and easy way to stay connected with family and friends? Or are you an Instagram creator, influencer, or entrepreneur who sees this amazing platform as a great opportunity to boost your online presence and grow your brand?
If you are the latter, then it’s time to sit down and take your Instagram strategies seriously, because merely having the best hashtag research tools won’t be enough to guarantee your success. What will? Your ability to adapt. And if you want your business to have amazing customer support and marketing strategies, learn about it in our MobileMonkey review.
If you’re so anxious because you are not getting the number of followers or views that you want, you need to take a closer look at what you might be doing wrong. Instagram, just like TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms is constantly changing and forever evolving. Explore what really works for you. If you want to try your hand on Twitter, for example, do it. But make sure your hashtags are still relevant with the aid of Hashtagify. However, if you insist on using old, outdated methods that no longer work in this digital climate, you’re in for a lot of trouble- not to mention heartbreak.
So what do you do to save yourself from going through these? Do your homework, and know what works and what doesn’t. Be on top of the latest trends and follow influencers who are doing it right. Every day is a learning process. But most of all, don’t be afraid to fail. Remember, quitters never win, and winners never quit. For more tips and tricks you could use to grow on Instagram, check our post on How to Use Instagram Post Insights to Improve Strategy.